FAITH MATTERS: Of hurricanes and hucksters

Saturday

Sep 9, 2017 at 12:01 AM

Rev. Daniel Payne

Not long after the rain from Hurricane Harvey began inundating Houston, and the waters began rising in the neighborhoods around Houston’s largest mega-church, Lakewood Church, social media users commenced criticism of Joel Osteen for not opening the doors of his sanctuary to flood victims. The details of Osteen’s intentions and motivations for not opening his doors remain muddy.

At first, the church claimed the building was flooded, but amateur reporters around the church property quickly posted photos and videos showing what appeared to be a relatively dry Lakewood Church. Then, church officials claimed that city officials requested the church not open its doors due to the danger of flooding. Finally, Osteen himself stated that the church would open its doors to the victims of Harvey once surrounding shelters reached capacity.

My issue with Osteen and the Lakewood Church board of directors is not directly related to their actions during Hurricane Harvey. Yes, it is a sad reflection of the state of so-called “health and wealth” theology within evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity. But it is not a surprising reaction from believers who trust that God blesses those with enough faith, and that destruction, poverty and sickness are signs that a person does not have enough of that faith.

Osteen is estimated to be worth $40 million as of 2017. He lives in a $10.5-million home. No doubt he uses a great deal of that money to buy his yachts, jets, and to keep that set of trademark teeth as white as possible. The most disturbing thing about Osteen and his ministerial ilk is not his vast amounts of money, though. The most disturbing thing is what that money – and material success in general – represents to peddlers of the prosperity gospel.

While Hurricane Harvey pounded Houston mercilessly, Osteen tweeted:

Victoria & I are praying for everyone affected by Hurricane Harvey. Please join us as we pray for the safety of our Texas friends & family. (3:39 pm – August 26, 2017)
There’s a simple phrase you have to get down in your spirit, “God’s got this.” (7:30 am – August 27, 2017)
God is still on the throne. He brought you through in the past; He’ll bring you through again. (8:15 pm – August 27, 2017)
Jesus promises us peace that passes understanding. That’s peace when it doesn’t make sense. (7:01 am – August 28, 2017)

More harmful than anything else, perhaps, is the way this perversion of the gospel creates an us vs. them division between the haves and the have nots. When bad things happen to good people who subscribe to this theology, a crisis of faith ensues. One wonders why her faith is not sufficient to prevent such suffering. The picture of God that advances is of a capricious, manipulative sociopath, for whom a maximum amount of faith is just not enough.

You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

James 5:1-6

I, for one, do not give the benefit of the doubt to preachers of this destructive theology. I do not think they actually believe what they are selling, but that they are using theological manipulation to milk poor and middle-class folk for all they are worth. I believe these hucksters, to live in their mansions and fly their private jets and sail their yachts, cannot believe in hell (otherwise, they’d know that to be their final destination), but choose to sell hell and fear and self-loathing wrapped in an attractive package of health and wealth to get every last penny they can. It is a wholly cynical, selfish, worldly scheme.

This was exhibited in a Lakewood Church worship service just days after Harvey wreaked havoc on Houston. A video posted on YouTube shows an offering being collected during that worship service, while victims of Harvey’s destruction are asked to stand, and the worship leader prays for them. The offering isn’t being given to them. There is no offer of monetary assistance to help them rebuild their lives. Lakewood Church is collecting money from people whose lives have been destroyed in order to continue building the Osteen empire. This is sick.

I am stunned so many people buy into such warped theology, especially those who claim to be familiar with the New Testament. Jesus and other authors in the New Testament had some pretty harsh things to say to those obsessed with money:

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Matthew 6:24)

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. (James 5:1-6)

True religion is to help the poor, the needy, the widow, the orphan. One does not need to be religious to help his neighbor, but one thing is certain: the religious person who does not help his neighbor is practicing a corrupt religion.

The Rev. Daniel Payne is an ordained minister with the Progressive Christian Alliance and director of religious education and community outreach at Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church in Harvard, Massachusetts. He is the author of “From Faith to Freedom: A Gay Man’s Escape From Christian Fundamentalism,” which will be published in the fall of 2017 by Apocryphile Press.. He may be reached at syndicatedcolumn@gmail.com.

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